/*******************************************************************************
 * Copyright 2009 
 * 
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 * 
 *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 * 
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 ******************************************************************************/
/**
 * Place holder for copyright, needs to be replaced before release.
 */
package com.softao.ming.gwt.core.runtime.client.application;

/**
 * A configuration element, with its attributes and children, directly reflects
 * the content and structure of the extension section within the declaring
 * plug-in's manifest (<code>plugin.xml</code>) file.
 */
public interface IConfigurationElement {
	/**
	 * @return the name of the configuration element.
	 */
	public String getName();

	/**
	 * @return the value of the element.
	 */
	public String getValue();

	/**
	 * @return all children of the configuration.
	 */
	public IConfigurationElement[] getChildren();

	/**
	 * @param name
	 * @return the children of this element with specified <code>name</code>.
	 */
	public IConfigurationElement[] getChildren(String name);

	/**
	 * @param name
	 *            the name of the attribute
	 * @return all attribute names.
	 */
	public String getAttribute(String name);

	/**
	 * @return all attribute names.
	 */
	public String[] getAttributeNames();

	/**
	 * This can be {@link IExtension}, {@link IExtensionPoint} or
	 * {@link IConfigurationElement} depends on the context.
	 * 
	 * @return the parent of this element.
	 */
	public Object getParent();
}
